Crybaby:

Our trip back home was delayed by a storm last night. The waves kept crashing against the sides. Sappoto-san grabbed onto me in bed.

“Miho-chan!” she cried. I tried to shove her off.

“Let go!” I said. “We’ll be fine, I promise! Just let it pass!” The lighting outside did little to assure her.

“Look!” I shouted. “I’ll be fine in the morning! Just get some sleep!” She looked up at me with those annoying, desperate eyes of hers. I sighed.

“Yes!” I groaned. “We’ll fine, I promise. Just go to sleep!” Sappoto-san closed her eyes and trembled. The hard rocking of the boat made me a bit uneasy myself. Like hell I was ever going to show her that. I closed my own eyes and hoped that the storm would pass soon so that we could go home.

Not so the next morning.

When we awoke, the rain hadn’t stopped. The storm had died down some, but it wasn’t over. In fact…

Sappoto-san narrowed her eyes at the beach. “Miho-can?” she asked.

“Yeah?” I asked her back.

“This doesn’t look like Japan,” she pointed out.

“No,” I said back.

“Then… where are we?” she asked. I took a look around the beach.

“No idea,” I mumbled.

“What?” Sappoto-san asked.

“I don’t know,” I repeated. I pulled out my cell phone and turned it on. Damn it, no signal! I looked up at the sky in frustration.

“Miho-chan!” I heard my friend call out.

“What?” I asked.

“Look!” she said. I looked over in the direction that she was pointing in. A group of people on ponchos raced towards us. The leader yelled at us in a foreign language, Chinese, I assume. Sappoto-san and I looked rather puzzled.

“What are they saying?” she asked over the howling winds.

“Beats me!” I shouted back. The leader got within feet of the boat. He still yelled at us in Chinese. We looked at him, confused.

“What?” I asked. “We don’t understand you!” The rain grew heavier around us. The man walked closer and reached for my wrist. I drew back as fast as I could.

“Don’t touch!” I said. The man continued to try and talk to me. I put up my hand at him.

“Wait, wait!” I cut it. “Slow down.” The man looked at me puzzled. Apparently, he didn’t understand Japanese. I went with the next best thing here.

“Do you speak English?” I asked in the language in question. The man leaned in closer to hear me.

“Do you speak English?” I asked louder over the picking up rain and wind.

“Oh! Yes!” the man replied back in English himself. Good, we’re getting somewhere.

“Okay, who are you guys?” I asked.

“We’re the volunteer storm aid workers,” he said. I nodded a bit at him.

“Oh,” I said. “And you’re here to take us to shelter?”

“Yes!” he said.

“But,” I said. “What about our boat?”

“We’ll tow it somewhere safe!” the man yelled. “Now come on before the storm gets worse!”

“Okay!” I said. I turned to Sappoto-san.

“Sappoto-san!” I yelled. “We’re going with them to a shelter to get out of the storm!” She looked up at me confused.

“What?” she asked. I walked over, grabbed her by the wrist, and dragged her along with us. The group led us to a van just up the road from the dock. They ushered us inside. Two of the men stayed behind to draw in our boat. Sappoto-san grabbed my hand. She looked up at me with those big, desperate eyes.

“It’ll be okay,” I whispered. “I promise you that.” Sappoto-san nodded at me and kept her head down. The leader turned around to us.

“Is she okay?” he asked. I nodded at him.

“Yeah, she’s just a little spooked out from the storm last night,” I said.

“I see,” the leader said.

“Will our boat be fine?” I asked.

“You mean being out there or afterwards?” he asked.

“Both,” I said.

“Well, being out there, yeah as long as it’s tied down properly,” the leader said. “As for afterwards, you’ll have to go out and see for yourself.” I let his words all sink. My thoughts were interrupted with small sobs. I turned and saw Sappoto-san’s starting to well up. I did my best not to be annoyed by her now.

“What is it now?” I whispered.

“It’s my family,” she whimpered in a soft voice.

“What about them?” I asked. She tried to wipe away tears before they fell down her rosy, fat cheeks.

“Will they be okay in this storm?” she asked.

“That depends on where we are,” I replied. I turned back to the front.

“Excuse me!” I said. “Where exactly are we?”

“Taiwan!” both men answered in English. I sat there in shocked silence for the longest time.

“T-T-Taiwan?” I asked.

“That’s right,” the leader said. “Where were you two going?”

“We were heading home to Japan,” I said.

“That far?” he asked. “Wow!” My eyes shifted back to Sappoto-san who was now laying her head in my lap. I rolled my eyes as I resisted the urge to push her up.

“Come on,” I said to her. “Don’t be like this. Just sit up and stop crying. Your husband and kids will be fine.”

“But what if the storm hits Japan?” Sappoto-san whimpered.

“The storm will be a little whimper by the time it gets there,” I brushed off. She looked up at me with those big eyes of hers again. I frowned to myself. I feel a whining tantrum coming, here goes.

“How can you be so sure? Huh?” she asked.

“I don’t,” I said. “But have faith in me, will ya? I haven’t let down yet, have you?” Sappoto-san didn’t say anything for the rest of the trip, but she just wouldn’t stop crying. I felt like strangling her at one point. I had to take in heavy breaths.

Come on, just ride out this storm. Then, check out the boat and get back to Japan without any more problems. I can take, really I can!